HMS Laughing Lady
The 'HMS ''Laughing Lady 'was a modified [[Adamant-class|''Adamant-class]] frigate of the Stormwind Navy. Built in 591KY, the ship narrowly avoided destruction during the Orcish Wars and provided escort for the refugee fleet to Lordaeron, where it remained for the bulk of the wars before returning home late in 599KY. Over the course of her career, she took fourteen enemy ships as prizes and participated in the sinking of over thirty more. She was lost with all hands in 626KY, sunk in a battle off the coast of Durotar. This page is a WIP. Construction Built shortly before the First War, the Laughing Lady was intended to serve as an armed escort for Stormwind's trade fleets. Designed by Horatio Colton, the Lady was built with a long keel and a relatively narrow beam of 40 feet below the waterline - a design that made her fast, but somewhat less stable in particularly strong seas. The keel and frame was built of Redridge oak. The planking was a compromise design between cost and strength; the planking at and below the waterline was made of Northeron ironwood, while the bulk was once again Redridge oak. Only along the gun-deck was ironwood used above the waterline, to provide protection to the gun crews and ammunition stores. Modifications Following the Third War, the Laughing Lady was reinforced with a thicker hull and a larger mast. Though these changes were not the major overhauls of many of Stormwind's fleet - which found themselves armour-plated or converted to steam engines'', they served the ''Lady in good stead for the rest of her existence, and proved critical to her survival in the early days of the Fourth War. Though the reinforced hull planking slowed the ship, the larger sails - together with the narrow beam below the waterline - compensated admirably. This planking was joined by internal bracing to allow for the improved armaments to fire full broadside without shattering the ship's spine. New armaments were installed, including the two 68-pounders on the quarterdeck. The light 12-pounder cannons below deck were replaced with 24-pounder breech-loading guns rather than the muzzle-loaders previously in use, and by the end of her service the Lady was equipped with explosive shot designed to penetrate the armoured plates of Orcish warships. This ammunition ultimately proved to be the Lady's downfall. =Service History= Orcish Wars During the First War, the Lady saw very little action as the fighting took place almost entirely on land. Only during the Orcish attack on Balor did she see combat against the real enemy, as part of a Stormwind fleet sent to intercept the raiding ships. Despite a valiant struggle, the fleet was defeated following a number of brutal boarding actions by Stormreaver necrolytes and their undead servants, and the Lady fled with the tattered remnants. It would not see action again until the exodus north, during which it engaged two light ships commandeered by the Orcs to follow the refugees and sank them without incident. For the duration of the Second War, the Lady sat moored off the Hillsbrad coast and saw no action, though its troops formed part of the Stormwind contingent of Alliance forces during the initial shore-landing by the Horde. The sailors, furious at the loss of their home, fought hard but with little discipline and were no match for the Orcish invaders, leaving then-lieutenant James Osgood as the sole surviving officer. He was swiftly promoted to Captain, but served out the rest of the war in a garrison capacity in case of further naval assault by the Horde. Interbellum Period Following the Second War, the Laughing Lady returned home and rejoined the other remnants of Stormwind's fleets. With ocean trade booming across the Western Coast, and little money to spare on lost shipments, the battered fleet was pressed into immediate service escorting trade convoys from Lordaeron, Booty Bay and Menethil Harbour. Under Captain James Osgood, the Lady saw honourable service on all three routes. 601KY Battle of Gazkril's Cove Early in 601KY, the first major engagement of his career as a captain was fought off the coast of Dun Morogh. Orcish remnant forces attacked from a hidden cove, seeking plunder and resupply to continue their guerrilla warfare and their attempts to link up with the Dragonmaw forces. With three lightly armed commandeered merchantmen, they relied on surprise to bring them victory. The Lady was, at that instant, the sole escort for five unarmed merchant ships - the captains of which refused slow their voyage by steering away from a large fog bank along the coast. After the first day in the fog, the merchants grew overly cautious, and on the second night the Orcish pirates - under the command of Gazkril the Bloodletter - struck from the darkness. They announced their presence with first sudden boarding of the Diamond, a 3-masted barque, and the first sign of their attack were the screams of panicked and dying merchant sailors, followed by an immediate barrage from the other two Orcish ships against the Lady. Captain Osgood immediately ordered the men to quarters and engaged the three Orcish vessels. With her strong hull, the initial barrage had done little serious damage - though it had left a number of the gunnery crews dazed and confused - and Osgood was able to order the sails tacked to take advantage of what little wind there was. The Orc's Blackhand - formerly the Brilliant Bastard, a 2-masted sloop - received the first volley from the Lady's guns, shattering its mainmast and leaving half the crew dead or crippled. On board the Diamond, the fight swiftly came to a brutal end and the Orcish boarders returned to Gazkril's Fist (formerly the Sly Dog) to engage the Lady with her full broadside. The Fist carried a number of guns pulled from other wrecks along with ballista and even a catapult, and her first strike came across the bow of the Lady, sending lethal grapeshot below decks and a sizeable ballista shot into the quarter deck. Osgood was not deterred and returned fire, holing the Fist below the watermark. The unusual decision to provide ironwood planking for the gun decks proved its worth as few of the gunnery crews sustained serious injury in the exchange. The third Orcish ship - formerly the Elven Destroyer Imperator - took an entirely different tack. Commanded by Lok the Merciless, the crew raised sail and took to the oars, determined to ram the Lady. They succeeded only after receiving a full broadside from the Lady's 12-pounders, which sufficiently fractured the Imperator's spine so that the ramming did not in fact break the Lady, but broke its initiator. Rapidly taking on water and no longer in fighting shape, the Imperator's surviving crew swarmed up grappling hooks and through the holes blasted in the Lady's side in a boarding action. The marines on the Lady responded immediately, along with the bulk of the gun crews and a number of the officers. As a consequence of the fighting raging below decks and amidship, the Lady was unable to fire for several volleys, during which the Fist - as it sank lower and lower in the water - hammered her to the best of its ability, though the four and six pounders mounted on it failed to inflict serious damage and the ballista proved more a nuisance than a great threat. Finally having repulsed the boarders, the Lady returned fire and sank the Fist shortly after. The survivors who attempted to board were immediately shot dead with crossbows and Dwarven flintlocks, and Osgood sent a party to board and secure the Blackhand. The Lady - and Osgood - had taken her first prize, which fetched a pretty penny when they sailed into Stormwind Harbour a week and a half later. 602 603 604KY Battle of the Channel Isles In March of 604, the Lady was dispatched to escort an envoy to Kul Tiras on a diplomatic mission regarding the rise in piracy through all the major seas. During the approach to the Isles, it encountered an unexpected force: Remnants of the Alliance forces based in Tol Barad, turned to piracy and desirous of secession and the return of Tol Barad to a fully-fledged Kingdom. Third War Actions against Scourge naval forces and pirates; some major engagements. Second Interbellum Period Pirate hunting again. Major engagements with pirate flotillas off the coast of Stranglethorn. War Against the Lich Anti-Kvaldir and Scourge raiding, some contact with Forsaken and Scarlet naval forces. Fourth War Participated in shattering Longshore's fleet, then in the battles off Twilight Highlands, Tol Barad, and Vash'jir. 626KY Final Battle In the closing hours of the Fourth War, the Alliance and Horde Rebel fleets blockaded Bladefist Bay and sent ashore boarding parties. The Laughing Lady was present as part of the fleet, assigned to shore bombardment duties and, if necessary, to use its speed to intercept any rallied Horde ships attempting to target the approaching the transports. In the course of this duty, the Laughing Lady was repeatedly struck by shore batteries and by aerial strikes. Shortly before the final push that secured the beach, a round from one of the heavier coastal guns penetrated the ship's hull directly above her ammunition stores, triggering a catastrophic detonation of the Lady's remaining powder and shells. The blast was sufficiently powerful to split the ship in half, and send both halves ten feet into the air before they came crashing down again and sank beneath the waves. All hands were lost, including Captain Anders de Leifeld. Category:Adamant-class Ships